Orioles make Ray Poitevint hire official

In Dan Duquette's two months on the job as new Orioles general manager, he has made it clear that he plans to tap into the international market for talent.

And he's turning to one of his most trusted international experts for help.

The Orioles announced Monday afternoon that they hired Ray Poitevint, who is in his sixth decade of baseball scouting, as the club's executive director of international baseball.

Earlier Monday, The Sun had reported the Orioles had brought on Poitevint.

"I am delighted to have Ray Poitevint return to the Orioles, where he began his career, and to have his veteran baseball leadership as part of our global recruiting and marketing efforts," Duquette said in a news release.

Poitevint began his baseball career with the Orioles in the 1960s as an associate scout. He spent 12 years in the organization, most notably signing Hall of Famer Eddie Murray in 1973 for $20,000 and discovering pitcher Dennis Martinez, a 245-game winner from Nicaragua.

He followed former Orioles general manager Harry Dalton to the Angels and then to Milwaukee, where he first worked with Duquette. With the Brewers, Poitevint was responsible helping sign Mexican pitcher Teddy Higuera and Puerto Rican-born pitcher Juan Nieves. Duquette replaced Poitevint as the Brewers' scouting director in 1986.

The announcement comes on the same day as news that the Orioles have agreed to terms with 26-year-old Taiwanese left-hander Wei-Yin Chen, who pitched for the Chunichi Dragons in Japan, to a three-year deal worth no more than $12 million. The Orioles also signed Japanese left-hander Tsuyoshi Wada to a two-year, $8.15 million deal last month.

Duquette has also hired Fred Ferreira, who teamed with him in the Montreal Expos' front office, as the club's new executive director of international recruiting, while David Stockstill remains the team's incumbent director of international scouting.